National, regional and local briefs

Posted: Saturday, October 22, 2005

Parkerson wins Friday night main event at OSP

Mike Parkerson, from Columbus, passed Savannah's Russ Brown on the 24th lap, then held on to win the NeSmith Chevrolet 40 at the eighth annual Showdown on the Coast at Oglethorpe Speedway Park Friday night.

In the Pure Stocks event, Terron Roberts claimed the checkered flag, followed by Dan Douglas and Buster Kleckley.

In the 440 Series event, Jimmy Swanson took the win, followed by Chris Hunter, Jason Rewis, Dustin Collins and W.R. Rewis.

Rewis claimed the season points in the division, the third consecutive year in which a member of the Rewis family has won the title. His son, John, won in 2003 and 2004.

Bowyer rallies to win Sam's Town 250

MILLINGTON, Tenn. - Clint Bowyer won his second Busch Series race of the season, rallying from deep in the field to win the Sam's Town 250 at Memphis Motorsports Park on Saturday.

Boyer worked his way to the front after starting 35th in the 43-car field and dominated the second half of the race. With the win, he closed within 100 points of defending series champion Martin Truex Jr. with three events remaining.

Truex, who started from the pole, dominated early and wound up third behind J.J. Yeley, leads with 4,511 points, while Bowyer improved to 4,411.

Former series champion David Green finished fourth.

Carl Edwards, whose car was stopped for speeding as he tried to get from morning Nextel Cup practice at Martinsville, Va., to Memphis to run this event, arrived moments before the race. He started in the 38th position and wound up fifth.

In today's final, Nadal will play eighth-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia, a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 winner over Argentina's David Nalbandian.

"It's something special to be in a Masters Series final, indoors and especially if it's Madrid," Nadal said. "Ljubicic is playing unbelievable. He won the last two tournaments, so he has a lot of confidence."

The 19-year-old Spaniard won his ATP-leading 78th match this year, passing the injured Roger Federer. Nadal is chasing his 11th ATP Tour title of the season.

ETSU's Bartow signs extension

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - East Tennessee State men's basketball coach Murry Bartow has signed a two-year contract extension, university officials announced Friday.

The extension keeps Bartow at ETSU through the 2009 season. The Warrensburg, Mo., native came to the school in April 2003 from his alma mater UAB, where he was head coach from 1996 to 2002.

In his two seasons, the Buccaneers have been 37-25 overall.

Calvary wins volleyball title

Calvary Day School won the seventh grade Savannah Parochial Athletic League volleyball title this past week.

In the championship match, Calvary (8-4) defeated Savannah Country Day in five games - 25-16, 25-19, 13-25, 25-27, 17-15.

The Lady Cavaliers rebounded from an opening-match loss to Savannah Christian in the tournament by beating St. Peter, Savannah Christian, then Country Day.

Some individual highlights for Calvary included Kristen Palmares' nine consecutive serves against St. Peter; Morgan Derst's nine consecutive serves in her team's second match against Savannah Christian; and Taylor Hodges nine consecutive serves against Country Day.